Prostate cancer is the leading cause of male cancer-related deaths and afflicts one out of nine men over the age of 65. The American Cancer Society estimates that over 200,000 American men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer and over 30,000 will die this year. While effective surgical and radiation treatments exist for localized prostate cancer, metastatic prostate cancer remains essentially incurable and most men diagnosed with metastatic disease will succumb over a period of months to years.
Prostate cancer is detected by either a digital rectal exam (DRE), or by the measurement of levels of prostate specific antigen (PSA), which has an unacceptably high rate of false-positives. The diagnosis of prostate cancer can be confirmed only by a biopsy. Radical prostatectomy, radiation and watchful waiting are generally effective for localized prostate cancer, but it is often difficult to determine which approach to use. Since it is not possible to distinguish between the indolent and more aggressive tumors current therapy takes a very conservative approach.
While imaging, X-rays, computerized tomography scans and further biopsies can help determine if prostate cancer has metastasized, they are not able to differentiate early stages. Understanding the progression of prostate cancer from a localized, early, indolent state, to an aggressive state, and, ultimately, to a metastatic state would allow the proper clinical management of this disease. Furthermore, early-indolent prostate cancer may be progressive or non-progressive toward aggressive forms.